Monday, August 23, 2010

Machine vision in the mailroom

OK, it’s not the mail room but this press release about vision in a DHL parcel distribution center is pretty interesting.

Making a long story short, DHL have thrown out bar code readers in favor of “auto-focus line-scan cameras” from German web inspection specialist, Vitronic. I was intrigued by the idea of an “auto-focus line-scan camera” so I spent a little time on the Vitronic web site trying to learn more.

The cameras referenced in the press release are VICAM-ssi2 models. These are interesting because they’re actually built by Vitronic; I had expected a Basler base at least. Unfortunately though, I could find no reference to an “auto-focus” capability, so I’m left wondering, how do they do that?